These things, left alone, can get out of hand pretty quick!! Take a few minutes to get rid of old, worn out, or not worn socks- maybe it will even help the kids find a pair quicker (wishful thinker over here😅)
if your kid's pajama drawers are like my kids, there are likely pajamas that are 2 sizes too small still in the drawer. Take a couple of minutes to add those to the donate pile!
All I can think is toothpaste everywhere, right? Take a few minutes to toss old toothbrushes, empty product containers and do a quick wipe down!
**if you are really in the mood for organization, check out how we've organized our kid's shared bathroom!**
Basically, anything that has to do with your kid's you could pick a drawer and have at it! Shoes are one of those things that seem to also multiply quickly at our house! Take 5 minutes and quickly sort out what is no longer worn, too-small, or just out of season.
Without fail, your desk gets piles of papers, slips, receipts, and whatnot. Quickly sort items into piles of importance/priority. If you can't get to dealing with each individual pile right away, label each one with a sticky note so you know exactly what you need to do with it when you get a chance.
**see how I've made handling all that paperwork part of my weekly routine**
Yep, this could be a challenge! Set that timer and see how quickly you can clear the counters and get your items put away! Using timers is a great way to motivate yourself to get stuff done!!
7. Utensil Drawers
This is such a fun, quick, and easy place to start! Sort out what you don't use, what doesn't work, items that don't belong. Once you've cleared out the excess, put away the items you actually use in an organized way and enjoy the beauty of an organized kitchen utensil drawer!
Oh.My.Goodness. I probably put a minimum of 10-12 cups in the dishwasher every night. We only have five kids and I drink out of a water bottle or coffee cup (okay and a wine glass too sometimes!). How does this happen??!! Our cups have multiplied since my last decluttering session!
Set your timer and toss the items that are no longer used, not age-appropriate, or just plain excess! Put everything else back in an easy to grab, organized way.
This is somewhat of a black hole in our house. We just don't get into it frequently, other than to throw garbage away. We do have some cleaning supplies that seem to multiply, get knocked over, or get lost to the back of the cabinet.
Take a few minutes to pull everything out, sort out what is no longer used or needed. Make note of cleaning supply levels and put everything back in an organized way!
Take a few minutes to look at what you actually used this past season and decide if it's something you plan to use again or if it's worth storing for the next year! Look at platters, plates, serving dishes that have seasonal patterns to see if they are keepers.
We all have one - and we likely actually use SOME of the items in it. Set your timer and ruthlessly see if you can clear that junk drawer of all the junk! COuld you put the keepers away in a different home and get the drawer back for something else?!?
Clean out the items you no longer use, any excess towels or washcloths, or that are worn-out and not worth storing.
If you can, roll your towels or "file-fold" them when you put them away so that you can see all that you have.
Toss old products that you no longer use, get rid of expired products and remove items that just don't belong.
Only keep the items in your personal drawer that you use on a daily basis that you want to have handy!
14. Medicines/First Aid products
Most of us don't give this area a second thought unless we are looking for something, in which case we are usually thrashing through to find exactly what we are looking for!
Take some time to get rid of items that you no longer need to use or are expired We flush items down the toilet so that no-one (kids or pets) can accidentally ingest something that shouldn't.
Be sure you have a safe place to store the items that you are keeping and get them put away in an orderly way.
It's a great idea to keep a back stock of the items that you use regularly in a basket in your bathroom. Just be sure to pass on items that you no longer use.
I'm a big fan of all those cute little travel toiletries, but there is no need to keep 15 bottles of travel shampoo. Get rid of the excess and organize what you are keeping by item into bins or baskets (with labels if you can!)
Just like you did in the kitchen, take a few minutes to toss/recycle empty product containers, take note of what you need more of, and put back the items you are keeping in an organized way (group like items together).
We generally keep all of our pet items together in a cabinet in the laundry room. But sometimes they get put away, and never looked at again. Things like medicines, extra leashes collars, or other items that are no longer used can quickly be removed and passed on!
I'm not alone in the world with this, right?? Other people have extra rags for cleaning and what not?
If your rag bin/basket is getting out of hand, take a few minutes to get rid of really worn or stained rags.
Fold the remaining and put them away where they are easy to grab when you need them!
A lot of times we have all the cleaning supplies scattered about the house - which makes it easier to have what you need handy. But it also means we don't always know where items are.
Get rid of empty product containers, consolidate what you can, and organize your cleaning supplies into groups by what they do. Or place them in cabinets in the rooms they are used in for quick and easy cleaning.
If your house is like ours, someone is always in the fridge. Hoping for new snacks to appear!
Set your timer to quickly pull out rotten items, sauce containers that are nearly empty that no one will use, and expired items.
Do a quick wipe down of any spills in the fridge.
Group the remaining items by type and place them back into the fridge together for easy access!
Sometimes the most perfect container to complete your organization project is right under your nose! With a little searching, this is absolutely one of the easiest ways to save on organization containers & bins.
Learn how to "shop" your house for containers and what you should be looking for.
Be creative with what you consider to be the best way to organize something. Yes, clear acrylic containers are beautiful, but do they work in the space you are looking to organize? Would a wicker or fabric rope basket work?
Could a couple magazine file holders work in your small pantry to hold your potatoes & onions (separately!). Look at what you've got and see if there is a better way it can be used.
Mason jars are a fantastic, inexpensive, and relatively easy to come by organization container (check thrift stores or ask around before you buy brand new). Check out these adorable jars being used as spice jars below!
**check out what other organizing items you should thrift here!**
A shoebox is just a shoebox until you make it an awesome fabric and jute basket! Use items you have around the house, along with some inexpensive craft items from the dollar tree and you are in business my friend!
Check out this awesome tutorial from The Savvy Sparrow on how to make your own basket - great idea!!
Dollar Tree or other "Dollar" Stores are a perfect way to get the organization items you want/need (without having to DIY them!) on a budget!
The bins shown below, paired with chalkboard labels made a huge difference when I overhauled our kitchen pantry!
Remove as much of the excess from the space you are organizing as you possibly can. While organization containers and baskets are super fun and super helpful, they won't be nearly as effective if you have too much stuff!
If you have multiples of certain items, do your best to consolidate those items into one container. This will free up space for the items you still have, as well as make the space more visually organized (aka pretty!).
To be honest, I was going to try to come up with a list of my top 5 items for a Family Command Center. But as I got to thinking about active families, I realized all you need are the basics that are going to get you & your family organized!
This is a total must! all the other things you could include are great... but this is it, my friend. The center of it all, the star of the family command center!
You can l learn exactly how I set up my Family Calendar to be organized and easy to read!
Basically, everyone in the family has an assigned color. So when I am glancing at the activities for the day, I can easily whose is whose and what's happening.
sidenote: I create a "key" at the top of each month so I remember who has what color... cause mom brain!
We created a Command Center Area in our dining area, between the kitchen and family room, so everything is right there, where we spend the bulk of our time as a family.
I am easily able to glance up at the daily activities on our family's calendar, but so is everyone else (who already can read) in our family.
Having a family calendar visible, for myself and everyone else, has helped keep our active family of seven (4 of 5 kids currently in sports) schedules organized!
The second must have "item" for your family command center is
I know you know what I'm talking about here! It's amazing how much paper comes home in those backpacks each and every day!!
We have a super cute, but simple wire basket that hangs in our "Command Center" that can hold a file for each of the kids and their paperwork.
Whenever the kids bring home papers that I actually need to hold onto, like field trip forms, picture day info, or others, but I don't need to look at it immediately, it gets popped into their file for future reference.
If this paper filing system is something you choose to set up for your family, you'll love how simple it is to find the paperwork you actually need! Just remember to recycle the items that you don't need to keep!
Because without fail, when kids come home from school, it looks like a tornado has hit your home. They drop their backpacks like a sack of bricks as soon as they enter the front door, only to disappear and leave you tripping over it! *she says from experience*
Shoes and coats also become dangerous floor decor! And If you are like me, the idea of falling on your face as you enter your home doesn’t NOT sound awesome.
You can get these super affordable! Which is one reason I love using these in drop zone areas!
Plus, you can find them to match nearly any decor color scheme you have going on. And put them in any room, entry or otherwise, of your home!
Pick out matching bins, or even give your kids the option to pick their own color so they know exactly which bin is theirs when it's time to put away backpacks, shoes, and lunch boxes!
Using a Cube Organizer is a great way to store all those items that sometimes seem to not have a place to go somewhere else in the house. Give everyone in your family a cubby to keep all the things organized!!
This is what we have recently done in our "office/mudroom/extra room". We have a wall that my husband added a full sheet of pegboard to that now houses both backpacks and sports bags.
There are hooks for everybody's backpack and we recently made some room for baseball bags, t-ball bags, and what-not.
(Just off to the side we have space for their shoes)
The thing that's fun about a peg board is that you can really set it up in a variety of ways - and of course, change it up as needed.
The cons for a peg board drop zone area, is that it is much more "permanent" than a shelf or cube organizer is (if you don't like to see all the backpacks out, it may not be the right system for you).
We used to use this one my hubby made...
But as more kids began to have bags for school and sports, we switched up to the pegboard system. And I didn’t want that awesome coat rack to break from all their stuff!
Using a simple coat rack is a FAST and simple way to get a drop zone created and some organization in place!
I love that you don't need a lot of space to install a coat rack, but you get an instant feeling of organization!
Getting backpacks, sports bags, and their coats up and off the floor is a busy mom's dream come true - tell me I'm not alone in this!!
Shopping at thrift stores is a great way to grab some cute, fun, and functional storage containers, without completely breaking the bank!!
I LOVE to use jars in my kitchen because they meet a couple of my basic criteria for storage containers:
The other most wonderful thing about using jars (like mason jars) is that you can get them for super, super cheap!
And while thrifting jars is a great idea, if you are ever out garage sale-ing, you can probably get even more bang for your buck on jars!
Baskets are such a fun way to store items. Especially because you can "hide" things inside. Things that maybe you don't want super visible or out.
Also, buying baskets can be so incredibly expensive if they are brand new. So thrifting your baskets can save you bunches of money!
When thrifting baskets, be aware of a couple of things:
I realize these aren't super expensive to buy brand new. But if you come across a set of matching Plastic Totes/baskets and you are able to purchase several of them at a time, you will likely save money thrifting these over purchasing new.
I would look for plastic totes that:
When you get your totes home, be sure you vacuum them and wipe them out. Or you could even soak them in the tub with a little bleach if needed!
This may seem like, "what and why??", but hear me out:)! Thrift stores can be a great place to find random organizing items that can help you get your life organized. Such as:
Buying furniture for organizing can get expensive really quickly.
But keeping your eyes out for a small bookshelf at a thrift store could help save you lots of money, and more importantly, help you get super organized!!
The thing I love about small bookshelves is that they can be used in a variety of rooms for a variety of purposes. They add major organizational value with little investment.
A few places you could use a small bookshelf:
I feel like there are so many more options that aren’t even listed!! It’s likely that you can find a small decent shelf for the cost of a couple of fancy coffees! What would you use a small bookshelf for in your home to get organized?
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